Blenders are used to prepare food items by performing a blending operation on food stuff. A blender can include a container for receiving food and a blade assembly that is rotatable to blend the food received within the container. The blending container can comprise a working volume that is defined by the volume of space within the container that is generally exposed to the blade assembly. In other words, the working volume is the volume of space within the container where food may be received and blended.
Sometimes, food items such as spices are placed in the container of a blender in order to be ground and incorporated into the other blended food. However, the working volume of the container is often larger than is optimal for the food item to be ground. For example, if not confined to a smaller volume, whole spices like peppercorns, cloves, etc., may bounce around the container during the grinding operation or coat the walls of the container. The spices will not be focused by the blades and extra spices may need to be added to get a preferred grind and yield.
Similarly, other foodstuff may be placed in the container of a blender in order to be blended. However, the working volume of the container is often larger than is optimal for foodstuffs to be blended. For example, if not confined to a smaller volume, it may take longer than is desirable to blend a smoothie or any other kind of foodstuffs.
Further, in moderate to high liquid ratio blending recipes, the efficiency of breaking down ingredients and/or increasing temperature rise may be slowed due to ingredients jumping and splashing around a large blending area. Therefore, there is a need to reduce the blending volume to decrease the time to heat the ingredients or otherwise just blend them.